FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pasadena Symphony Association Pasadena Symphony & POPS Contact: Marisa McCarthy [email protected] (626) 793-7172 ext. 13
June 17, 2020
PASADENA POPS RESIDENT POPS CONDUCTOR LARRY BLANK HOSTS VIDEO PODCAST WITH STARS FROM BROADWAY, TV AND FILM POPScast premieres Saturday, June 20 with special guest Michael Feinstein
Pasadena, CA – The Pasadena POPS and Resident Pops Conductor Larry Blank are pleased to announce POPScast, a weekly video podcast featuring a star-studded line-up of POPS performers, composers, musicians and all who make the music happen. POPScast premieres this Saturday, June 20 at 7:30pm on what would have been opening night for the Sierra Summer POPS Series, and will run throughout the summer. POPScast will add to the Pasadena Symphony and POPS portfolio of digital offerings, which include the Pasadena Symphony’s In Conversation Podcast and the Play at Home with the POPS archival series.
A three-time Tony-nominated Broadway conductor and orchestrator, Resident Pops Conductor Larry Blank will host the new POPScast series with multiple award-winning stars from Broadway, television and film, including Marc Shaiman, Luci Arnaz, Cady Huffman, Anita Gillette, Laurence Guittard, Valerie Perri, Ron Raines and Karen Ziemba. Hear behind-the- scenes stories and get up close and personal with the stars you’ve loved seeing on the POPS stage. POPScast debuts Saturday, June 20th with Larry sitting down with Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein to discuss the inner-workings of the Pasadena POPS orchestra.
Make it a night and order dinner from Pasadena POPS restaurant partners Claud & Co and Julienne, who are offering special menus to enjoy with the POPScast. Diners should check their websites frequently to enjoy the summer feel at home. Episodes will premiere weekly, on Saturday at 7:30pm on the Pasadena POPS website, pasadenasymphony-pops.org, on the Pasadena POPS YouTube channel - /ThePasadenaSymphony and Facebook page - /pasadenasymphonypops. Past episodes will also be available on-demand at these three locations.
ABOUT THE PASADENA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION Recent Acclaim for the Pasadena Symphony and POPS:
“The Pasadena Symphony signals a new direction…teeming with vitality...dripping with opulent, sexy emotion.” – Los Angeles Times.
“In his five years leading the PSO, Lockington has taken an ensemble that was already quite good and elevated it into one where excellence is the byword.” – Pasadena Star News. Formed in 1928, the Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an ensemble of Hollywood’s most talented, sought after musicians. With extensive credits in the film, television, recording and orchestral industry, the artists of Pasadena Symphony and POPS are the most heard in the world.
The Pasadena Symphony and POPS performs in two of the most extraordinary venues in the United States: Ambassador Auditorium, known as the Carnegie Hall of the West, and the luxuriant Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Internationally recognized, Grammy- nominated conductor, David Lockington, serves as the Pasadena Symphony Association’s Music Director, with performance-practice specialist Nicholas McGegan serving as Principal Guest Conductor. The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award- nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” Michael Feinstein, is the Principal Pops Conductor, who succeeded Marvin Hamlisch in the newly created Marvin Hamlisch Chair.
A hallmark of its robust education programs, the Pasadena Symphony Association has served the youth of the region for over five decades through the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO), comprised of five performing ensembles with 300 gifted 4th-12th grade students from more than 50 schools all over the Southern California region. The PYSO has toured internationally at prestigious venues in New York, Vienna, and most recently San Jose, Costa Rica. They regularly perform throughout Southern California and have appeared on the popular television show GLEE.
The PSA provides people from all walks of life with powerful access points to the world of symphonic music.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Larry Blank Resident Pops Conductor
Larry Blank is one of the most prolific and sought-after composers, conductors, and orchestrators in the entertainment business today. His work has been presented all over the world, including some of Broadway’s most successful musicals, Carnegie Hall, and top television and film projects.
He was the Music Director/Conductor and/or vocal arranger for many shows on Broadway and in Los Angeles including They're Playing Our Song, Evita, Sugar Babies, La Cage Aux Folles, Phantom Of The Opera, Onward Victoria, Copperfield, Colette, A Chorus Line and A Little Night Music. He has been nominated three times for both the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award for his orchestrations in The Drowsy Chaperone, Irving Berlin's White Christmas and with Marc Shaiman for Catch Me If You Can. Larry received a Drama Desk Nomination for orchestrations for A Christmas Story.
Larry contributed to the orchestrations for both the stage and film production of The Producers, the film Chicago and is a regular conductor and arranger for BBC RADIO 2 Friday Night Is Music Night in the UK. Larry is also the Music Supervisor and Orchestrator (along with Mark Cumberland) for the Olivier Awards in London.
Blank has worked with top talent from varied fields of the entertainment world, notably as personal conductor to Michael Crawford. He has also worked with Michael Feinstein, Marvin Hamlisch, Bernadette Peters, Kelsey Grammar, Christine Baranski, Roberta Flack, Pete Fountain, Peabo Bryson, Sally Kellerman, Nancy Dussault, Marc Shaiman, Jerry Herman, Ann- Margaret, Davis Gaines, Bette Midler, George Benson, Placido Domingo, Randy Newman, Trisha Yearwood, Tom Scott, Quincy Jones, Michael Bolton, John Raitt and Diana Rigg.
Blank’s background includes orchestrating and arranging songs for South Park and was Music Supervisor and Orchestrator for Jerry Herman’s movie, Mrs. Santa Claus starring Angela Lansbury and Charles Durning. Some of the films he lent his talent to include The Kid, Kiss The Girls, The American President, Forget Paris, City Slickers II, The Net, That¹s Entertainment III, North, I¹d Do Anything, and Stuart Saves His Family. Blank’s music can be heard on the animated feature films, Cats Don’t Dance and All Dogs Go To Heaven as well as the 101 Dalmatians Christmas Special.
Mr. Blank’s television work includes orchestrating and composing music for several of the Grammy Awards and Academy Award shows as well as numerous television movies and shows. Most recently Larry orchestrated and conducted FX's Fosse/Verdon and Dolly Parton's latest project Christmas On The Square for Warner Brothers.
Mr. Blank has guest conducted most of the orchestras throughout the world, including The San Francisco Symphony, The New York Philharmonic, Western Australia Symphony Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Palm Beach Pops, Auckland Symphony, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Symphony, New Orleans Symphony and Toronto.
Michael Feinstein Principal Pops Conductor
Michael Feinstein has built a dazzling career over the last three decades bringing the music of the Great American songbook to the world. From recordings that have earned him five Grammy Award nominations to his Emmy nominated PBS-TV specials, his acclaimed NPR series and concerts spanning the globe – in addition to his appearances at iconic venues such as The White House, Buckingham Palace, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House – his work as an educator and archivist define Feinstein as one of the most important musical forces of our time.
In 2007, he founded the Great American Songbook Foundation, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Songbook Academy. This summer intensive open to students from across the country has produced graduates who have gone on to record acclaimed albums and appear on television programs such as NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” Michael serves on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America’s sound recording heritage.
The most recent album from his multi-platinum recording career is A Michael Feinstein Christmas from Concord Records. The CD features Grammy Award -winning jazz pianist Alan Broadbent (Paul McCartney, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole). Feinstein earned his fifth Grammy Award nomination in 2009 for The Sinatra Project, his CD celebrating the music of “Ol’ Blue Eyes.” The Sinatra Project, Volume II: The Good Life was released in 2011. He released the CDs The Power Of Two – collaborating with “Glee” and “30 Rock” star Cheyenne Jackson – and Cheek To Cheek, recorded with Broadway legend Barbara Cook. For Feinstein’s CD We Dreamed These Days, he co-wrote the title song with Dr. Maya Angelou.
His Emmy Award-nominated TV special Michael Feinstein – The Sinatra Legacy, which was taped live at the Palladium in Carmel, IN, aired across the country in 2011. The PBS series “Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook,” the recipient of the ASCAP Deems-Taylor Television Broadcast Award, was broadcast for three seasons and is available on DVD. His most recent primetime PBS-TV Special, “New Year’s Eve at The Rainbow Room” – written and directed by “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry – aired in 2014. For his nationally syndicated public radio program “Song Travels,” Michael interviews and performs alongside of music luminaries such as Bette Midler, Neil Sedaka, Liza Minnelli, Rickie Lee Jones, David Hyde Pierce and more.
Feinstein was named Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena Symphony in 2012 and made his conducting debut in June 2013 to celebrated critical acclaim. Under Feinstein’s leadership, the Pasadena Pops has quickly become a premier orchestral presenter of the Great American Songbook with definitive performances of rare orchestrations and classic arrangements. He launched an additional Pops series at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, Florida in 2014. Michael’s book The Gershwins and Me – the Los Angeles Times best-seller from Simon & Schuster – features a new CD of Gershwin standards performed with Cyrus Chestnut at the piano.
Feinstein serves as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, a $170 million, three-theatre venue in Carmel, Indiana, which opened in January 2011. The theater is home to diverse live programming and a museum for his rare memorabilia and manuscripts. Since 1999, he has served as Artistic Director for Carnegie Hall’s “Standard Time with Michael Feinstein” in conjunction with ASCAP. In 2010 he became the director of the Jazz and Popular Song Series at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Michael’s nightclub at San Francisco’s Nikko Hotel, has presented the top talents of pop and jazz since 2013. He debuted at Feinstein’s/54 Below, his new club in New York, late in 2015. His first venue in New York, Feinstein’s at the Regency, featured major entertainers such as Rosemary Clooney, Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Diahann Carroll, Jane Krakowski, Lea Michele, Cyndi Lauper, Jason Mraz and Alan Cumming from 1999 to 2012. He has designed a new piano for Steinway called “The First Ladies,” inspired by the White House piano and signed by several former First Ladies. It was first played to commemorate the Ronald Regan centennial on February 6, 2011.
In 2013 Michael released Change Of Heart: The Songs of Andre Previn in collaboration with four time Oscar and eleven time Grammy Award-winning composer-conductor-pianist Andre Previn. The album celebrates Previn’s pop songs and motion picture classics. Earlier album highlights include Hopeless Romantics, a songbook of classics by Michael’s late friend Harry Warren, recording with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. His album with songwriting icon Jimmy Webb, Only One Life – The Songs of Jimmy Webb, was named one of “10 Best CDs of the Year” by USA Today.
Feinstein received his fourth Grammy nomination for Michael Feinstein with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. The year before, Rhino/Elektra Music released The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a two-disc compilation spanning 1987 to 1996 and featuring old favorites and previously-unreleased tracks.
Michael was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where he started playing piano by ear as a 5- year-old. After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles when he was 20. The widow of legendary concert pianist-actor Oscar Levant introduced him to Ira Gershwin in July 1977. Feinstein became Gershwin’s assistant for six years, which earned him access to numerous unpublished Gershwin songs, many of which he has since performed and recorded. Gershwin’s influence provided a solid base upon which Feinstein evolved into a captivating performer, composer and arranger of his own original music. He also has become an unparalleled interpreter of music legends such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Duke Ellington and Harry Warren. Feinstein has received three honorary doctorates.
Through his live performances, recordings, film and television appearances, and his songwriting (in collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Lindy Robbins, Bob Merrill and Marshall Barer), Feinstein is an all-star force in American music.
For more information, please visit www.MichaelFeinstein.com.
Lucie Arnaz Lucie Arnaz began her long career in a recurring role on television on The Lucy Show, opposite her mother, Lucille Ball. At age fifteen, she became a series regular on Here’s Lucy, a show that ran for six seasons. She starred in her own series, The Lucie Arnaz Show and later in the critically acclaimed Sons & Daughters on CBS.
On the big screen, Lucie has starred opposite Neil Diamond and Sir Laurence Olivier in The Jazz Singer (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination); opposite Tom Laughlin in Billy Jack Goes To Washington; alongside Ken Howard in Second Thoughts; and opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Henry Winkler in Down To You, a Miramax film. Lucie co-starred with Richard Roundtree, Robert Loggia and Bob Forster in Wild Seven; and in an award winning controversial new film about second hand smoke from writer/director Alyssa Bennett entitled, The Pack, that debuted at Sundance.
On the stage, Lucie has played many of the best women’s roles in the theatre including Sally Bowles in Cabaret; Daisy Mae in Li’l Abner, Princess Winifred in Once Upon A Mattress; Goodbye Charlie (produced by Burt Reynolds); and A Place To Stay, opposite John Ritter. With Stockard Channing and Sandy Duncan, Lucie created the role of Kathy in the West Coast premiere of Vanities at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. She snagged the coveted role of Sonia Wolsk in the Neil Simon-Marvin Hamlisch-Carole Bayer Sager-musical They’re Playing Our Song, directed by Robert Moore, for which she received The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Theatre World and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other Broadway highlights include her portrayal of Bella in Neil Simon’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Lost In Yonkers and co-starring in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Lucie has starred Off-Broadway as Glorie in Grace and Glorie, and as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally’s Tony-Award-winning tour de force Master Class.
Anita Gillette Anita Gillette may be best known for playing Mona the mistress in Moonstruck or Tina Fey’s mother in 30 Rock, or Jack Klugman’s wife in Quincy. She recently appeared on Modern Family and Blue Bloods.
She has more than fourteen Broadway shows to her credit, including Chapter Two (Tony Nomination, LA Drama Critics Award) Cabaret, Carnival, Gypsy, Guys & Dolls, Don’t Drink The Water, All American, Jimmy, They’re Playing Our Song, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Mr. President, The Gay Life, Kelly, Showboat and Encores’ Bloomer Girl And 70 Girls 70. Off Broadway and regional credits include: The Big Meal (lortel award nom.) Love, Loss & What I Wore, The Seagull, She Loves Me, Shirley Valentine, Bye Bye Birdie, Skin Of Our Teeth, Juno, Rich & Famous, Travesties, The Importance Of Being Earnest, Flamingo Court, My Fair Lady, The Winslow Boy, Irene, South Pacific, Sweet Bird Of Youth, (with Joanne Woodward) The Great Waltz (recorded for RCA), Knickerbocker Holiday (with Burt Lancaster) and Morning’s at Seven.
She has played major roles in the recent Ed Burns film, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, Shall We Dance, Boys On The Side, Larger Than Life, The Guru, She’s The One, Bob Roberts. The Great New Wonderful, Hiding Victoria, The Last Adam, Bum Rap, Charlie Hoboken and Undertow. Films for television include A Christmas Memory and Summer Of Ben Tyler.
Anita had recurring roles on CSI, Law & Order SVU and Shake It Up. She was a series regular on Quincy, Almost Grown, The War At Home, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Me & The Chimp, Normal Ohio, and The Baxters, All That Glitters for Norman Lear. Episodic work: Sex & The City, Cold Case, Women’s Murder Club, Frasier, Law & Order, Mad About You. She has been on every major game show including Pyramid, Password, Match Game, To Tell The Truth, What’s My Line, etc., etc. She was a foil for Johnny Carson for at least 50 Tonight shows. She performed her one woman show After All at Birdland, Feinstein’s, and in London at the St. James Theatre, among others.
Cady Huffman Cady can currently be seen on the Netflix series Master of None and the web series He’s With Me, for which she just won the Indie Series Award for Best Guest Appearance in a Comedy. heswithme.tv
Her most recent Broadway appearance was in The Tony Award winning play The Nance opposite Nathan Lane, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. She is perhaps best known for her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award winning performance as "Ulla" in The Producers on Broadway opposite Mr. Lane and Matthew Broderick. This led to her unforgettable recurring role on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm where she almost became Larry David's 10th anniversary present. This success also brought her to the Food Network's kitchen stadium where she judged for 10 consecutive seasons on Iron Chef America.
Cady's other Broadway credits are her Tony-nominated performance as Ziegfeld’s Favorite in The Will Rogers Follies, the original production of La Cage Aux Folles, Steel Pier, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour, and Bob Fosse’s last original musical Big Deal. She has had several guest starring appearances on television, including a recurring role on The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: CI, Law & Order: Trial By Jury, Frasier and Mad About You. She even showed up on Daytime's One Life To Live as the 2nd Dr. Paige Miller.
Cady’s big screen appearances include The Company Men opposite Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper, John Turturro’s star studded musical film Romance & Cigarettes, Hero (with Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis and Andy Garcia), The Nanny Diaries opposite Scarlett Johansson and the upcoming Christmas movie Love The Coopers. She also has starring roles in the indy films Molly's Theory of Relativity, Dare, $20 Drinks, Billy's Dad Is a Fudgepacker, Space Marines and Throw the Hoolihan. She also produced and stars in film festival favorite Sunday on the Rocks which won 2nd Place Feature at the New Haven Film Festival.
Cady often lends her talents and resources to several charitable causes, including Creative Alternatives of New York (CANY.org), AIDS awareness, breast cancer research, women's heart health and animal rights. As an advocate for the arts, she has traveled to Washington to speak to Senators and Congresspersons and has spoken on panels at Sundance Film Festival and Brown and Harvard Universities focusing on the arts and first amendment rights. She is passionate about keeping the arts in public schools and helping young people realize their potential.
Valerie Perri Valerie Perri recently starred as Dolly Levi in 3D-Theatricals Hello Dolly. Eric Marchese of the Orange County Register said, “Valerie Perri delivers a knockout performance as Dolly. Proving a worthy successor to past stars. She’s part Channing, part Streisand, part Fanny Brice and 100 percent Dolly.”
Valerie’s career began under the direction of legendary Director/Producer Harold Prince when he chose her to play Eva Peron in the Broadway National of Evita. She has also had the honor of working with esteemed Director/Choreographer Jerome Robbins in the Broadway National of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. She starred as Norma Desmond in the hit musical Sunset Boulevard at The Karen and Richard Carpenter Center, which garnered her best actress nomination from Broadway World and also a Los Angeles Stage Scene Award for Best Performance of the Year 2013. She’s a recipient of the John Raitt Award for best Cabaret Performance 2014.
Perri has sung for concert hall audiences worldwide, from Disney Hall to Carnegie Hall and internationally at the Opera House in Frankfort and the London Palladium. Her television and film credits include Criminal Minds, ER, Another World, The Out of Towners, George of the Jungle, Grease, and Dickie Roberts.
Ron Raines Ron Raines garnered Tony and Grammy Award nominations for the 2012 acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, which he starred in opposite Bernadette Peters. Ron has also starred on Broadway as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, Joseph Pulitzer in Newsies, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat, and Nick Longworth in Teddy & Alice. Ron has also delighted audiences around the country in A Little Night Music opposite Leslie Uggams, Amy Irving, Christine Ebersole, and Cleo Laine; The Unsinkable Molly Brown opposite Debbie Reynolds, Can Can opposite Chita Rivera, Merry Widow with Roberta Peters, South Pacific, Rose Marie, Oklahoma!, Carousel, Side by Side by Sondheim, Guys and Dolls, Candide, Regina and Man of LaMancha, which he performed at the Covent Garden Festival in London and recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios.
Ron has been a soloist with over 60 major American and international orchestras, including the Boston Pops with John Williams, Keith Lockhart, and Marvin Hamlisch, the Philly Pops with Peter Nero, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the summer of 2018 with Gewandhaus of Leipzig, Germany. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and London’s Palladium and their Royal Festival Hall. He has appeared on four PBS Great Performances, and has recorded numerous cast albums as well as two solo CDs on the Jay Records label.
Born in Texas City, Texas and raised throughout East Texas, Ron graduated from Oklahoma City University and later attended The Juilliard School. He was a three-time Emmy nominee for his role as the nefarious Alan Spaulding on CBS’s longest running daytime drama Guiding Light. Ron has appeared on CBS prime time in The Good Wife, Elementary, and Person of Interest. He lives in New York City with his wife Dona and daughter Charlotte.
Marc Shaiman Marc Shaiman is an Academy Award nominated composer and lyricist of film. He started his career as a vocal arranger for Bette Midler. Later on he started to work for Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner, which allowed him to write music for their box-office success movies as well as the Oscar shows and Emmy Awards. Some of his (arguably) best known scores include those for Barry Sonnenfeld's The Addams Family, Trey Parker's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Emile Ardolino's Sister Act.
Shaiman has earned five Academy Award nominations, a Tony Award, a Grammy Award for his work on the musical Hairspray (Original Broadway Cast), and an Emmy Award for co-writing Billy Crystal's Academy Award performances. He has also been Grammy nominated twice for his arrangements for Harry Connick, Jr.'s recordings When Harry Met Sally and We Are In Love and Emmy nominated for his work on Saturday Night Live. In 2002, he was honored with the "Outstanding Achievement in Music-In-Film" award at The Hollywood Film Festival.
Karen Ziemba Karen Ziemba received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of The Wife in Contact at Lincoln Center Theatre. For her performance as Georgia Hendricks in the Kander and Ebb musical Curtains, she received the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for the Tony, Drama Desk and L.A.’s Ovation Award. Other appearances on and off- Broadway include Never Gonna Dance (Tony nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award); Kander and Ebb’s Steel Pier (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations); And The World Goes ‘Round (Drama Desk Award), I DO! I DO! (Drama Desk nomination), Chicago, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Crazy For You, and leading roles at the New York City Opera in 110 in The Shade and The Most Happy Fella.
For Encores! at City Center she starred in Bye Bye Birdie, The Pajama Game, Ziegfled Follies Of 1936, and Allegro. Regionally she has appeared in The Three Penny Opera (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Six Degrees Of Separation, The First Wives Club, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound (San Diego’s Old Globe), Much Ado About Nothing (The Shakespeare Theatre Company, D.C. and Hartford Stage), Sylvia (New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre) and in Shooting Star (Penguin Rep.). Her film and TV appearances include The Producers, Once More With Feeling, Scrubs, all three Law and Order series, The Kennedy Center Honors, in tributes to Angela Lansbury and Julie Harris, and for PBS’ Great Performances, “My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies”, “Gershwin at 100”, and “Stephen Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall”. Karen has sung on many recordings including several original cast albums and received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Niagara University.
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